Wood Duck (Ducklings)

(Aix sponsa)

Where: Gatesville, NC • Merchant's Mill Pond State Park

Notes: There are not many things cuter then baby ducks or ducklings. This shot was a real challenge for a "couple" of reasons. The first obstacle was that there were two ducklings and they were always within inches of each other. This meant hoping for good poses from two constantly moving subjects at the same time. That kind of cooperation is often difficult with only a single still bird. The pair dabbled along endlessly feeding on aquatic plants as my partner and I watched from the canoe. The youngsters kept their beaks down in the water a majority of the time. To have captured this image with both heads up and in good position was a blessing because it only happened for an instance as they busily scooted in and out of the vegetation around us. Having experienced similar situations with multiple subjects before I knew to maximize my chances by taking lots of extra shots. Because of the short distance to the subject I also used a slightly higher f-stop number to allow enough focal length for both subjects.